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Special Operations Marine Raider MARSOC Detachment 1 Challenge Coin / Navy
Special Operations Marine Raider MARSOC Detachment 1 Challenge Coin / Navy

Special Operations Marine Raider MARSOC Detachment 1 Challenge Coin / Navy

This coin is 1 15/16 inches in diameter with epoxy on both sides.  There are some surface marks from handling.

Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment One (MCSOCOM Detachment One or Det 1), was a pilot program to assess the value of Marine special operations forces permanently detached to the United States Special Operations Command. It was commanded by Col. Robert J. Coates, former commanding officer of 1st Force Reconnaissance Company. Det One was activated on 19 June 2003 and had its headquarters at Camp Del Mar Boat Basin. It was disbanded in 2006 and succeeded by the permanent United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, which is to be a 2700-person command.

Personnel

The unit consisted of 81 Marines and 5 Navy Corpsmen divided among 4 sections:

  • reconnaissance element (30 men)
  • intelligence element (29 men), containing a headquarters element and
  • a Radio Reconnaissance Team (RRT), (9 men)
  • a human intelligence (HumInt) exploitation team (HET), (6 men)
  • an all-source fusion team (12 men)
  • fires element (7 men)
  • headquarters element

The original Marines picked to form the detachment were hand-picked from over 500 personnel records. Despite common misconception, Det One was not a beefed up Force Reconnaissance platoon. While the reconnaissance element was composed mostly of Force Recon Marines, they made up only 24 of the 86 members of the detachment. The detachment, though lacking organic aviation, operated under the Marine Air-Ground Task Force philosophy of leveraging integrated, complementary capabilities to be more effective than the sum of its parts.[1]

Insignia

Detachment One's Insignia comes from the World War II Marine Raider's patch, a blue patch with a skull and stars. The insignia was created by then-GySgt Anthony Siciliano. The scarlet, blue, and gold disk represents the unit's joint Navy-Marine Corps origins. The crossed stiletto/lightning bolt represent the unit's special operations mission, and its global communications reach. The parachute wings represent airborne-qualified status and the mask above it represents the combatant diver qualification.

(REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCSOCOM_Detachment_One)